Benefits of L-citrulline

L-Citrulline

L-Citrulline is primarily used in sports nutrition to enhance blood flow and overall performance in the gym.

Overview

What is L-citrulline? L-citrulline is one of the most popular blood flow enhancing ingredients on the market, and for good reason! The benefits of citrulline are well documented; because of this, it is one of the most utilized pre-workout ingredients on the planet.

But how exactly does Citrulline work? Let's take a deeper look ⬇️\

Blood Flow

L-citrulline is a non-essential amino acid and precursor to the holy grail of blood flow enhancing compounds, nitric oxide. Nitric oxide expands blood vessels through a process called vasodilation. This mechanism allows more blood to be delivered to your muscles; at the same time, it also helps to remove waste products on its way out. Since blood is the carrier of oxygen and nutrients to muscle tissue, increases in blood flow proves to be especially beneficial for exercise performance.

To keep it simple, think of it like this. Your blood vessels are pipes. The wider the pipes, the more water can flow through them. It works the same for blood flow; the wider the blood vessels, the more blood can flow through and be delivered to muscle tissue!

There are countless studies backing the benefits of L-citrulline supplementation. There's evidence to support the claims that L-citrulline reduces ratings of perceived fatigue, muscle soreness, and increases power output during resistance training. In a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled 2-way crossover study, results showed that users who had consumed 2.4g L-citrulline via oral supplementation experienced a reduction in the time to complete a 4km cycling time trial compared to placebo.

In another study, a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial was performed using nine male collegiate track athletes. Each athlete consumed either L-citrulline or placebo for 7 days and underwent the Wingate test using a bicycle ergometer. Results showed that participants who had consumed L-citrulline experienced an increase in mean power output, pedaling speed, oxygen consumption, and serum nitrate. They also reported a significant reduction in perceived exertion, suggesting that citrulline supplementation may have enhanced exercise performance and anti-fatigue effects during high intensity training.